Jordan Staal wasn't bad in his first season with the Carolina Hurricanes. He also wasn't happy—so he made a change.

The big center, acquired via a draft-day trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins, had 10 goals and 21 assists in 48 games last season but never felt truly comfortable. Over the summer, Staal, 25, altered his eating habits—"just didn't eat so much chocolate, I guess"—and lost an estimated 10 pounds.

"I lost enough to make myself feel better," he told reporters at Consol Energy Center earlier this week.

He also gained about 65 inches and 173 pounds worth of Nathan Gerbe. Carolina signed the former Buffalo Sabre to a two-way deal before the start of this season, and his addition to Staal's line is paying off already. Gerbe has three goals, with Staal getting his first assist of the season Thursday night against the Washington Capitals.

Part of the reason the pairing has worked so far, according to the Hurricanes, is that Gerbe plays a north-south game that belies his 5-5 size. That's how Staal likes to play, and that's exactly what he felt was missing from his game last season—his first after signing a 10-year, $60 million contract. That pressure, combined with the short season, didn't help Staal's state of mind, though he still managed 31 points while driving play against top competition.

"It made for a pretty rough season for myself, and obviously the blame is still on me, but there were a lot of factors going into it," Staal said.

Coach Kirk Muller went so far as to say Staal is "a completely different player" this time around, thanks in part to his chocolate-free training methods.

"He was great last year as well that way," Muller said. "It just didn't click for him."

Now, things are clicking, and part of that is because Gerbe is riding shotgun.

"As good as Jordan's playing, their chemistry's been great because (Gerbe has) almost forced Jordan to play a north game again," Muller said. "For a little guy, he goes to the net. He goes hard and direct, so their chemistry together has actually been a pretty valuable line for us going against top players."

Each of the two, based on shot data compiled by extraskater.com, is possessing the puck at even strength more than their opponents, which gives credence to that whole north-south thing. When Staal is on the ice at even strength in a one-goal or tied game, Carolina has taken 58.2 percent of the overall shot attempts. Gerbe is at 55.7 percent. They're first and second on the team in that statistic (Corsi close percentage). Only one other forward, frequent linemate Patrick Dwyer, is above 50 percent.

"(Staal is) not a high-risk player, and I'm a north-south player using my speed, so I think that's able to mesh pretty well," Gerbe told Sporting News before his team's 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. A little earlier in the day, Penguins coach Dan Bylsma mentioned Gerbe in the same breath as Staal and his brother Eric as players to watch on the Hurricanes.

During that game, Gerbe, Staal and Dwyer, together at even-strength, helped generate 17 shot attempts against 16 for the Penguins' top two lines despite starting around 16 percent of their shifts in the offensive zone, lowest among Carolina's forwards. They were on the ice for two goals -- one by Gerbe, the other by Pittsburgh's Jussi Jokinen—but their team lost.

Thursday against the Caps, the results were different—Carolina won 3-2—but the underlying stats were the same; Staal and Gerbe driving possession against what should be top competition. They were each plus-seven on even-strength shot attempts, with Gerbe crashing the net and knocking a Staal rebound past Washington goalie Braden Holtby for the game-winner at 6:59 of the third period.

Like Staal, Gerbe is coming off a year in the wilderness. In 2010-11 with the Sabres, he had 16 goals and 15 assists but bottomed out with a 10-point 2013. He was coming off spinal surgery and far from the only Sabre to struggle, but the team bought him out in the summer nonetheless. The move caught him by surprise.

"Last year was a tough year for me," Gerbe told SN in Pittsburgh. "Being able to come here (with) a clean slate and just play the way I can play is my goal."

Now, he's feeling more like himself—just like his new linemate.

"I'm excited to play every day. It's fun to play. I'm finally finding that back in hockey." Gerbe said. "Coming here and getting a good chance, I just want to take advantage of it."